HELP! VM Pro

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michaelwookey

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I have just bought a Focusrite Voicemaster Pro and I'm very happy with all the features apart from the optical expander. It works fine - but whenever it is fully closed there is an audible whistle, from high to low, lasting about a second but depending on how slow the expander closes. It's definately when it fully closes cos it happens as the last light on the expander lights up. What the hell is going on? I phoned Digital Village and they actually said "can't you just not use the expander?" Don't ever buy from them - they are absolutely awful.

Any thoughts?

Michael Wookey.
 
Michael,

I hate to side with the sales people, but you might be better off leaving the expander alone, especially if you are using it for vocals. In my opinion this was the worst feature on the voicemaster pro. The only thing I found it useful for was when recording snare to get rid of high-hat blead. For anything else the expander was always to noisy for me. I just sold my voicemaster pro to purchase some new gear, so I can't do a test to see if I would get the same results, but just remember that this is the greatest weak spot on this unit.

In fact the guy I sold mine to, emailed me to say he was very pleased with its condition, sound, etc - his only complaint was the expander.

For vocals (if recorded properly), I don't think you should really need it anyway.
 
Yup, what he said. Great piece of gear at that price point but the expander, while a nice feature in concept, doesn't cut it. I didn't get the noise YOU are hearing but when applied, it takes out some music at low volumes.
 
k

Well thanks fo your help. I've just been reading some more reviews and people have said the expander is not very good. I'd only ever really use it live anyway, but that's not the point - it should do what I've paid for. As for the rest of the unit though, I'm very happy. The preamp is very clean and doesn't really flatter or otherwise, which is what I need as this is my only preamp at the moment. I'm using it with 2 gt-33's and a Rode NTK (mainly the NTK) and it sounds really damn good on those mics. Digital village though - scum.

M.
 
The VMPro also is killer with the AT mics. 4033, 4050. Really great intimate sound, even better than the NTK, which I also own.
 
I concur with the man in the middle. While the NTK sounds nice with that pre, my 4033 sounds great!
 
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